Howard vs. Rudd: the webcast

This year Australia goes to the polls to elect a new federal government. Whichever party wins the most seats can form government, and their leader becomes the Prime Minister. John Howard has been Australia's Prime Minister for 11 years as leader of the Liberals, and Labor leader Kevin Rudd is challenging him.

On Thursday night the Australian Christian Lobby organised a live webcast of the two leaders speaking to churches. Many churches across Australia signed up to watch this event. I attended the webcast at a local congregation.

Mr. Howard spoke first, then received questions from church leaders in the audience. Mr. Rudd's presentation followed the same format. Both leaders began their speeches with a commendation of Australia's Christian heritage. Both also professed to hold a Christian faith.

As a former political science student, I was very interested to note the way that the two leaders framed their speeches to focus upon their key concerns. They spoke partly to their audience specifically, but also treated the webcast as another opportunity to press home their platforms on issues such as the economy and workplace reform. It was also very interesting to listen to each leader for 20 minutes or more, as usually we hear only soundbites on the news.

In my opinion, Mr. Howard made more effort to justify his policies and practises to the Christian public, and respond to complaints against his party. Especially in the area of welfare and the workplace, Mr. Howard sought to demonstrate that he does care for the underprivileged.

Mr. Howard also made more effort to explain the way his faith impacts upon his decisions, and pointed out that his party includes many strong Christians. He mentioned that he and many other members of the Liberal party voted conservatively on issues such as stem cell research.

Mr. Rudd's speech was much more humorous! He made serveral jokes about parts of his speech being pitched to various Christian denominations. For example, he stated that including a quote from John Wesley was "a pitch for hte Methodist vote". I enjoyed Mr. Rudd's humour.

Mr. Rudd also did a good job of focusing on some alternative issues to those Mr. Howard promoted as important. For example, he spoke about the effects of the Iraq war upon the Christian minority in that country. He also emphasised the importance of helping refugees. Both these issues pull my heart strings, and I am sure they have a similar effect on many other Christians.

During the question time, church leaders asked Mr. Rudd questions that were very relevant to the past history of the Labor party and the future of the country. For example, his stance on anti-vilification laws.

However, I was disappointed that no one asked Mr. Rudd for his personal stance on issues of life and death. His record on issues related to abortion is poor, and it would have been worthwhile to ensure that voters were aware of this.

Overall, the "a word" (abortion) was not mentioned in the entire webcast. This shows the low priority placed upon this issue in Australia, including in church denominations, in comparison to the high priority that is placed upon it in the USA.

In conclusion, this webcast provides much for Australian Christians to be grateful about. It is wonderful that we have leaders in both major parties who are willing to profess faith in Christ, speak to Christians, and acknowledge the right of Christians to be involved in public life.

It is also excellent that Christians are becoming more politically aware and wanting to vote in accordance with God's will. One of my favourite parts of attending the webcast was the break in the middle of it, where we prayed together. Many churches across the nation did the same. I am certain that this was the most powerful part of the evening. God will surely work, and reveal to us what we need to know about our leaders, in response to our prayers.